Skittles Vodka Tutorial

Infusing vodka with Skittles is a very popular trend right now. There are a couple of different ways to do it. My way involves separating all the Skittles into their separate flavors and making five different bottles of Skittles vodka.

Skittles Vodka

Over the years since I originally published this, I’ve found better ways to do some of it. Most importantly, I found a better way to strain it, and I’ve tested it with rum. In fact, the green one in this batch is rum. More on that at the end.

Time to complete: 24 hours at most. That’s about 30 minutes of prep; 15 minutes altogether for the occasional shaking; a good 14 hours to just let it do its thing; and a good hour or two for straining. Need something quicker and easier than Skittles Vodka? Jolly Ranchers Vodka doesn’t need any straining or shaking, and infuses in about half the time.

For this project, you’ll need:

One 1.75 liter bottle of vodka (I used Stoli – you don’t need the most expensive vodka, but do avoid the cheap ones)

You’ll also probably want to cover your workspace with newspaper or freezer paper – the Skittles Vodka infusion can get messy. If you’re making a different sized batch, here’s the formula you need to know: I used 70 Skittles to 7 ounces of vodka, which yields about 7-8 ounces of infused vodka. If you want to make 1.5 times that, or 3 times that, just multiply your amounts.

Step 1: Separate Skittles into Flavors

Start by simply separating the Skittles into flavors. You want 70 of each.

Step 2: Put Skittles in bottles

Now put your Skittles into 5 bottles. I used some old water bottles I had on hand, but you can use any container with a secure lid – plastic or glass. Mason jars work great because whatever bottles you use, they’re going to end up with a lot of gunk to be washed out, and Mason jars are easy to wash out.

Step 3: Add the vodka

Now add the 7 ounces (or whatever measurement you’re using) of vodka to each bottle. When this is done, all five bottles will have a pile of Skittles soaking in the vodka.

Step 4: Shake ’em, shake ’em, shake ’em

Now your infusion bottles all have Skittles in the bottom. Give each bottle a good shake – the more, the better. The candy coating will start to rub off and color the vodka, but the white insides of the Skittles still have a lot of dissolving to do. After shaking them, set them aside for a few hours. I think shaking them every few hours, up to maybe 4 times altogether, helps them dissolve faster – especially if you’re making a bigger batch. My Skittles all dissolved overnight, but some people have had it take longer, so be sure to do this a full day in advance of when you want to serve them.

See the white stuff at the bottom? That’s what I was talking about. Once they’re all dissolved, you’ll notice a lot of white muck floating at the top of your Skittles Vodka. We’ll take care of this in Step 6.

Step 5: Strain

Since I first did this one, I’ve found that the quickest and most thorough way to strain these is through 2 layers of cheese cloth inside a coffee filter. I’ve tried a lot of combinations, and this is the one that worked for me. It strained out everything in one pass, and didn’t take too long.

If you want suggestions on how to arrange that stuff, here’s what I did.

Looks like something from a mad scientist lab, huh? I clipped the coffee filters and cheesecloth (you can’t see the filters for the cheesecloth) onto a funnel with clips, and then stuck that contraption over a measuring cup. The thing about using a funnel is that it directs the flow of the stuff toward the bottom, which makes it go a little quicker.

Then I poured one of the infusions into my strainer setup. I had to pour about a quarter of my infusion in, then wait for some of it to soak through, then pour another quarter in, until I was done. If the strainer clogs with white gunk, you can use a spoon to scrape the gunk out of the way.

By the way, if you’re wondering whether it’s going to slowly, this is about the stream you should expect if it’s filtering everything out like it should:

In the end, you’ll have about 8 ounces of Skittles Vodka. Then I dumped the funnel and coffee filters into one of the bowls I’d used earlier for counting out Skittles, to catch drips as I carried it over to the sink. I washed everything out for re-using.

Then I took the liquid from the measuring cup and poured it into a flask. Repeat this process for each flavor.

Step 6: Chill and Serve

Now you’ve got 5 flasks or bottles of Skittles infused vodka:

Stick them in the freezer for several hours – overnight is fabulous… and they’re ready to serve:

Some people mix them with fruit juice. I didn’t try this, because to me the Skittles were plenty of sweetness for my taste buds.

Everyone’s taste varies – there are so many directions you can take this drink in, you really should try anything that sounds good to you!

Cheers!

Frequently asked questions:

How long will this keep? I’m not a scientist, but I can tell you I’ve kept these for about a month with no problem. Strangely, the purple color can fade to pink, but that was the only “issue”. Everything tasted just like it always does and no one got ill. To be on the safe side, I recommend making these no more than 2 weeks ahead.

Can you do it with rum? Absolutely! The green one in this batch is rum – it takes the same amount of time, strains the same way, etc. But the rum will add its own flavor. If you’ve ever had rum balls or butter rum candy, that’s the flavor it adds, and it’s delicious. I actually prefer the rum, but it depends on your preference. Both ways are terrific.

Can you strain it with [insert alternative here]? You can strain it with many methods, but the one I gave you above is what I’ve found to be the quickest without letting through gunk and needing a second pass.

I've done this a few times before and have come up with a delicious coktail using Skittle Vodka:
You need two or three shots of Skittle Vodka (your choice of colour); one shot of Triple Sec; A dash of lemon or lime juice and some plain sugar. Shake these over ice in a cocktail shaker and pour into a highball glass filled with ice. Then you can add a plain or citrus soda to taste.Enjoy =D

My brother has seemingly found another recipe that had him merely let it sit for three days and that was that. The recipe claimed that the 'gunk' was to be left in as that's what gave it its flavor.. can that be right?

Tried this. Tastes wonderful. Vodka at first(expected from nearly pure vodka) but then a rush of skittles comes. A little dangerous when it comes to drinking them because you pound them back fast. Only problem I had was in the filtering.. took me a while bc the wax would clog the coffee filter and stop pouring out of it.

Hello, I just made my first batch (waiting for the skittles to dissolve), but I fail to understand this part: if you're pouring 6 ounces to each bottle and 6 ounces is 0.177 l, and 5 x 0.177 l = 0.885 l, but the recipe states you need 1.75 l? If you loose some vodka cause of filtering and possible evaporation, then how much vodka do you need to fill each bottle at the end? Do you even do it? Or are you left with almost a liter of vodka (which isn't a bad thing :P)?

Well, since that's about 1/4th the amount of vodka I actually used, I would guess 1/4th the amount of skittles, so that's 15 skittles in each flavor. I'd also err on the side of too many skittles - might make it take longer to filter, but it won't be lacking any flavor.

We found a trick for the filtering process, because it was taking so darn long with our first colour. We took the tray out of the coffee maker, put the filter in it, then placed it over the measuring cup. This way we didn't have to hold the filter paper in place. Much faster and no spills =)

Don't know if this is a stupid question but if u freeze it wont it turn to solid? or is it preety much just like freezing straight vodka? also is it better to leave for a couple of days rather than over night?
I'm planning to make this for my 18th!!! sooo excited about it! :)

Thanks for this! I bought everything I need but unfortunately I could not find the glass bottles. I found some at Sur La Table but they only had 4! I refused to do this half way so I had them mail me some because they would waive the shipping fee. Of course, the next day I found them at 2 random places I went to. LOL! As soon as I get my bottles in I am making this. I bought really good vodka (Kettle One) because I plan on drinking it straight up as a martini. Glad to hear we will have some vodka left! Cheers!

Hi, I did this last a while ago and drank about three quarters of a bottle of the stuff and didnt even feel a tingle, just wondering if this reduces the alcoholic content in any way as usually half a bottle (70cl) of vodka would get me more than merry

No, it doesn't reduce the content, but it does dilute it a little. Because part of what you're drinking is sugar and whatever else was in the Skittles.But mine don't seem THAT diluted. It still packs a decent punch. Hmm.

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